I really liked the section in this where Armstrong talked about savants. There has been a push in society recently to challenge how we define intelligence and I think that is only appropriate because as Armstrong also states in this section what we have valued in intelligence has shifted over time. While this push is not unsubstantial as evidenced by our focus on multiple intelligences over this course so far and edu 101 I do think there are aspects of our labeling that show a tendency to value some over others. For example a genius in the field of math, science, or linguistics will often be labeled a “genius” without any qualifier, whereas a genius in the field of music or painting are often labeled as a “musical genius” or an “artistic genius”. While the qualifier isn’t necessarily demeaning considering it doesn’t take away from the area in which they are deemed to have genius level intelligence the perceived need for a qualifier suggests that certain areas of intelligence aren’t worthy of a “genius” label without a an explanation of the field. I also found it interesting that Armstrong talks about how time period may be crucial in how multiple intelligences play out. He uses the example of Mozart grew up in an era that valued musical composition above many things so his genius was fostered and able to actually develop whereas if he grew up today and attended a public school that was cutting its music program his genius wouldn’t have an opportunity to develop.
Katelin
I loved this chapter because it really does show how there are so many different ways that people learn, and there are always stronger and weaker areas that everyone has. I learned that there are really eight brain systems instead of the traditional left side right side, and there is seven ways of measuring intelligences, not just one test about one thing. Everyone has a different way that they are smart in and each work in isolation. Something I thought was interesting was the fact that they gave a name to people who were superior in one area but really low functioning in another area, because this struck me instantly as my sister, who has disabilities. This would be something that because I have experience in, I might pick out quickly in a student by knowing the intelligences, and it would help me to work on that low level with them, and really take advantage of that superior one they have. The chapter also said that everyone has all of the intelligences, and they can develop all of them to a good level, but they need to be given the chance to do so. So by finding out the weaknesses of my students, I can work on them. My favorite part of the chapter was at the end when it says that these intelligences do not determine how smart someone is, but it is more of “how the human mind operates on the contents of the world” (18). This really got me to understand that this is not about what they have learned, but how they can learn.
Rhi
Multiple intelligences are something that I’ve been familiar with since about freshman year of high school, but something new that was brought to my attention in this reading was that people can possess all of the intelligences but in their own way. On page 16, it discusses how 2 people can be bodily-kinesthetic, one being outstanding out on a field, but the other being a great weaver. A person could love to write stories, but when it comes to the classroom they could like to learn visually. Someone, like me, could be even more than 2 types of intelligences, but usually there is one type that is the most obvious, which for me is bodily-kinesthetic. I think out of all of the intelligences, this is one that many people have a little bit of because everyone can benefit from being active in a classroom and getting involved in hands-on assignments that really get you thinking about what you need to do instead of just listening to a teacher talk about it. It is so interesting how different people can be, but have so many similarities. I hope to be able to incorporate MI questionnaires in my future health classes, and help students to understand why knowing the types of learners they are is important. There are so many different sites that have ways of assessing people intelligences. I plan to incorporate into my first few classes as a teacher one or more of these assessments to be able to better understand how my students learn.
Dominick
Gardner was the first person to categorize types of intelligences. He came up with a total of eight. He believed that the IQ tests were not a reasonable way to measure everyone’s knowledge. He believed that there were different types of intelligences that people could possess. He managed to come up with eight different intelligences. This in my opinion is one of the most important discoveries to be made. If Gardner had not discovered this then we would not be aware of the different kinds of intelligences that human being could have. Certain people’s intelligences would never have been known or appreciated. Perhaps there were some people that never did get to capitalize on their intelligences because it was only discovered a little over 20 years. Had we been aware of these different say 100 years ago perhaps there would have been more people identified for their certain types of intelligences. What if someone with a certain type of intelligence was not fully appreciated because of the time period they were born in? We all have these intelligences, it is simply a matter of which one we are the strongest in. The chapter discusses the Raymond from the film Rain Man. Raymond has a superior logical-mathematical intelligence. Anything involving math Raymond was extremely knowledgable in, but the other intelligences he had little development in. Raymond struggled with every other intelligence that there was. In today’s people must find their intelligence and use it to the best of their ability.
Sara
In chapter one of Multiple Intelligences we learn about what multiple intelligences mean and how they came to be. Intelligence was once measured by one specific test and only measured certain aspect that were deemed to gauge a person intelligence. However it is true that there is not just one type of intelligence, there are many, at the moment eight to be exact. Each of these intelligences all have the same validity and one is not better than the other. It is important to understand the differences in these types of intelligences. By knowing if a student has a high intelligence in linguistic or spatial, it helps understand what is going to work best for a student in the classroom. While the intelligence does not always correlate to learning style, it would help a teacher understand why a student may excel in writing an essay, but not excel in group work. However if a student is very high in musical and very low in logical, this does not mean that they are incapable of learning things such mathematics. They just perhaps need a different way of learning it than the traditional way. A teacher must understand all eight intelligences and must be willing to accept that every student is going to be different in their intelligences, thus a teacher must accommodate the classroom to ensure that every student is getting the most out of lesson. Differences must be embraced and taken into consideration with every aspect of the classroom. Without this careful consideration it is setting some students up to not succeed to their highest potential.
Cheyenne
I really love the idea of multiple intelligences. I used to hear so often about my friends growing up that because they didn’t always have the best grades in school, they weren’t as smart as other kids. Like-wise, something I was hearing through the end of my high school career was “you’re so smart, why aren’t you getting a good grade in math”. But the idea that there are multiple intelligences helps to eliminate the extremely negative and damaging idea that if you don’t excel in the core school subjects, you’re not smart. This is such an important ideal to have when working with student who are still trying to figure out who they are. For many students who excel in intelligences aside from verbal/linguistic and logical/mathematical, to hear that their intelligence is important, legitimate, and valued is crucial to helping them to achieve success later in life. Knowing these various intelligences, and being aware that there are likely more than the 8 officialized ones, is extremely important when figuring out how to connect with students on an educational level. If a student has a low understanding of linguistic intelligence, and is failing English because of this, knowing that she excels in bodily-kinesthetic intelligence could be the key to helping her raise her grade. Perhaps she finds it hard to concentrate long enough on class readings to read through them completely. Perhaps finding an audio version of the text for her to listen to while she works out, or to help her focus but still having her use the text could eliminate a barrier.
Lydia
There is not just one intelligence there are multiple. It is important to know the eight intelligences which are Linguistic, Logic-mathematical, Spatial, Bodily–Kinesthetic, Musical, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Naturalist. I have also learned that there are different criteria for each of these intelligences and one of them is potential loss by brain damage. This means that you can lose one of these intelligences if you have a brain injury. I have also learned you can be intelligent in one way of a certain category but other ways you may have a “weak intelligence” in the category. This will impact my class room because I will have to create activities that highlight every students’ intelligence as well as challenge their weaker intelligences. As a teacher I must know how each student learns the best. One way this will impact me is using MI will show me how to get to know my students better and try to meet the needs of how they like to learn. Through multiple intelligences I can assess how each student understands information and in what ways they can present the information that they have learned. By knowing if a student is more of a visual learner I can demonstrate a social studies lesson through demonstration or even use pictures in my presentations. Through giving other activities such as a logical problem to a visual student but adding visuals so they can piece together their own information, I will be able to instruct and encourage them to build the strength of their Logic-Mathematical intelligence.
Shane
The main part of this chapter that really resonated with me was about the IQ test. I totally agree that students should not be defined by only knowing one intelligence or being good at only one thing at a time. This side tracked me a little bit because it made me think of when students will be in my classroom that they may feel like failures based on SAT or other types of scores on standardized tests. I like the concept of helping students grow within different areas of other intelligences. There are subcategories and students can always develop and help them work in other ways. Sometimes others believe a person to be intelligent or unintelligent based on certain skills and aspects of life, but if there is anything I have learned from the readings or in life is that this is false. I have met people with special needs that are outstanding musicians, and many other examples. The big point I am trying to drive home is how this will impact me as a teacher in the future. Intelligences are defined by the times. Depending on when a certain intelligence is deemed important or popular that is when some people will thrive more than others. It also will impact me as a future educator because it will be not only my job to help kids showcase their intelligence in a given area to help them excel, but to also help them grow in different areas as a student to help them reach maximum potential in the classroom.
Cory
I really enjoyed some of the points that Gardner pointed out in his Multiple Intelligence theory. I couldn’t agree more with his reasoning for proposing this theory; Gardner believes that our natural definition of intelligence is too narrow. Many Americans believe that our intelligence is based almost solely on our IQ score and grades in core level classes, but that isn’t true. There are many dimensions to intelligence that aren’t covered by math or English. I can apply this to my class room by not writing off a student that isn’t too great at history. I think that all teachers have to realize that there is no such thing as truly stupid student; every student excels at something, it just my not be the subject, matter you are currently teaching them. But what I think is the biggest thing to take away from this chapter is Gardner believes that every student can develop each intelligences to an adequate level. This is something I think that every teacher has to believe. If you don’t think you can improve your students’ intelligence in a certain subject, then what is the point in even trying? A teacher without this belief should not be teaching if you ask me, they need to have faith in their students. Some students are written off as unable to learn something, but there is a difference between unable and unwilling. Only the best teachers are able to make all of their willing and want to learn what they have to teach.
Laura
I really enjoyed reading about the eight different kinds of “intelligences” because I find them fascinating. While this chapter didn’t directly discuss multiple intelligences in the context of education, it is easy to see how it is so important to bring them into consideration when it comes to teaching. When we took the test in class to determine which intelligences were strongest for us, I scored highest in the interpersonal and naturalist categories and lowest in the musical and logical-mathematical categories. The results of my test make me aware that it might be difficult for me to connect to students who fall into different categories than I do at first, and this chapter makes me aware that I will have to be able to recognize these rather foreign intelligences in my future students, as I am sure that I will have students who are musically and mathematically inclined. I will need to be able to connect with these students just as well as I might connect with students who fall into the same MI categories as I do. Apart from the fact that Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences might pose challenges to me as an educator when it comes to discovering how to best suit intelligences that I do not strongly possess, I think that differing intelligences have much to offer to a classroom’s learning environment as I will be able to learn from my students and they will be able to learn from each other. This is a very valuable thing and I will be sure to make my best effort to get to know which categories my students fall into as individuals and to give them the opportunities to utilize those intelligences.
Sarah
In chapter 1 I learned about Gardner’s eight intelligences and how he came to thinking of multiple intelligences. I learned that he questioned the validity of determining intelligence through the practice of taking students out their natural learning environment and asking them to do isolated tasks that they had never done before and would never do again. Gardner believed that intelligence has more to do with an individual’s capacity for solving problems and “fashioning products” in a natural setting. Even though we learned about some of the characteristics of each of the intelligences in class, I felt that the way the book described them helped me learn more about each intelligence. Linguistic has to do with a person’s ability to use words effectively in writing or verbally. People with linguistic intelligence tend to have the ability to manipulate the structure of language, the sounds of languages, the meanings of language, and the practical uses of language. In a math classroom, I could give word problems or give students the option to explain what they did to solve a problem to their classmates. Word problems that require explanation in the answer would satisfy the students that can use words effectively in writing. Explaining the method that was used to solve a problem would satisfy a student who can effectively use words verbally. I also learned that everyone has all eight intelligences and have the possibility for all eight to be adequately developed. By implementing ways to satisfy all the eight intelligences in my classroom, some students would be further developing their intelligences.
Table of Contents
Cooper
I really liked the section in this where Armstrong talked about savants. There has been a push in society recently to challenge how we define intelligence and I think that is only appropriate because as Armstrong also states in this section what we have valued in intelligence has shifted over time. While this push is not unsubstantial as evidenced by our focus on multiple intelligences over this course so far and edu 101 I do think there are aspects of our labeling that show a tendency to value some over others. For example a genius in the field of math, science, or linguistics will often be labeled a “genius” without any qualifier, whereas a genius in the field of music or painting are often labeled as a “musical genius” or an “artistic genius”. While the qualifier isn’t necessarily demeaning considering it doesn’t take away from the area in which they are deemed to have genius level intelligence the perceived need for a qualifier suggests that certain areas of intelligence aren’t worthy of a “genius” label without a an explanation of the field. I also found it interesting that Armstrong talks about how time period may be crucial in how multiple intelligences play out. He uses the example of Mozart grew up in an era that valued musical composition above many things so his genius was fostered and able to actually develop whereas if he grew up today and attended a public school that was cutting its music program his genius wouldn’t have an opportunity to develop.Katelin
I loved this chapter because it really does show how there are so many different ways that people learn, and there are always stronger and weaker areas that everyone has. I learned that there are really eight brain systems instead of the traditional left side right side, and there is seven ways of measuring intelligences, not just one test about one thing. Everyone has a different way that they are smart in and each work in isolation. Something I thought was interesting was the fact that they gave a name to people who were superior in one area but really low functioning in another area, because this struck me instantly as my sister, who has disabilities. This would be something that because I have experience in, I might pick out quickly in a student by knowing the intelligences, and it would help me to work on that low level with them, and really take advantage of that superior one they have. The chapter also said that everyone has all of the intelligences, and they can develop all of them to a good level, but they need to be given the chance to do so. So by finding out the weaknesses of my students, I can work on them. My favorite part of the chapter was at the end when it says that these intelligences do not determine how smart someone is, but it is more of “how the human mind operates on the contents of the world” (18). This really got me to understand that this is not about what they have learned, but how they can learn.Rhi
Multiple intelligences are something that I’ve been familiar with since about freshman year of high school, but something new that was brought to my attention in this reading was that people can possess all of the intelligences but in their own way. On page 16, it discusses how 2 people can be bodily-kinesthetic, one being outstanding out on a field, but the other being a great weaver. A person could love to write stories, but when it comes to the classroom they could like to learn visually. Someone, like me, could be even more than 2 types of intelligences, but usually there is one type that is the most obvious, which for me is bodily-kinesthetic. I think out of all of the intelligences, this is one that many people have a little bit of because everyone can benefit from being active in a classroom and getting involved in hands-on assignments that really get you thinking about what you need to do instead of just listening to a teacher talk about it. It is so interesting how different people can be, but have so many similarities. I hope to be able to incorporate MI questionnaires in my future health classes, and help students to understand why knowing the types of learners they are is important. There are so many different sites that have ways of assessing people intelligences. I plan to incorporate into my first few classes as a teacher one or more of these assessments to be able to better understand how my students learn.Dominick
Gardner was the first person to categorize types of intelligences. He came up with a total of eight. He believed that the IQ tests were not a reasonable way to measure everyone’s knowledge. He believed that there were different types of intelligences that people could possess. He managed to come up with eight different intelligences. This in my opinion is one of the most important discoveries to be made. If Gardner had not discovered this then we would not be aware of the different kinds of intelligences that human being could have. Certain people’s intelligences would never have been known or appreciated. Perhaps there were some people that never did get to capitalize on their intelligences because it was only discovered a little over 20 years. Had we been aware of these different say 100 years ago perhaps there would have been more people identified for their certain types of intelligences. What if someone with a certain type of intelligence was not fully appreciated because of the time period they were born in? We all have these intelligences, it is simply a matter of which one we are the strongest in. The chapter discusses the Raymond from the film Rain Man. Raymond has a superior logical-mathematical intelligence. Anything involving math Raymond was extremely knowledgable in, but the other intelligences he had little development in. Raymond struggled with every other intelligence that there was. In today’s people must find their intelligence and use it to the best of their ability.Sara
In chapter one of Multiple Intelligences we learn about what multiple intelligences mean and how they came to be. Intelligence was once measured by one specific test and only measured certain aspect that were deemed to gauge a person intelligence. However it is true that there is not just one type of intelligence, there are many, at the moment eight to be exact. Each of these intelligences all have the same validity and one is not better than the other. It is important to understand the differences in these types of intelligences.By knowing if a student has a high intelligence in linguistic or spatial, it helps understand what is going to work best for a student in the classroom. While the intelligence does not always correlate to learning style, it would help a teacher understand why a student may excel in writing an essay, but not excel in group work. However if a student is very high in musical and very low in logical, this does not mean that they are incapable of learning things such mathematics. They just perhaps need a different way of learning it than the traditional way.
A teacher must understand all eight intelligences and must be willing to accept that every student is going to be different in their intelligences, thus a teacher must accommodate the classroom to ensure that every student is getting the most out of lesson. Differences must be embraced and taken into consideration with every aspect of the classroom. Without this careful consideration it is setting some students up to not succeed to their highest potential.
Cheyenne
I really love the idea of multiple intelligences. I used to hear so often about my friends growing up that because they didn’t always have the best grades in school, they weren’t as smart as other kids. Like-wise, something I was hearing through the end of my high school career was “you’re so smart, why aren’t you getting a good grade in math”. But the idea that there are multiple intelligences helps to eliminate the extremely negative and damaging idea that if you don’t excel in the core school subjects, you’re not smart. This is such an important ideal to have when working with student who are still trying to figure out who they are. For many students who excel in intelligences aside from verbal/linguistic and logical/mathematical, to hear that their intelligence is important, legitimate, and valued is crucial to helping them to achieve success later in life.Knowing these various intelligences, and being aware that there are likely more than the 8 officialized ones, is extremely important when figuring out how to connect with students on an educational level. If a student has a low understanding of linguistic intelligence, and is failing English because of this, knowing that she excels in bodily-kinesthetic intelligence could be the key to helping her raise her grade. Perhaps she finds it hard to concentrate long enough on class readings to read through them completely. Perhaps finding an audio version of the text for her to listen to while she works out, or to help her focus but still having her use the text could eliminate a barrier.
Lydia
There is not just one intelligence there are multiple. It is important to know the eight intelligences which are Linguistic, Logic-mathematical, Spatial, Bodily–Kinesthetic, Musical, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Naturalist. I have also learned that there are different criteria for each of these intelligences and one of them is potential loss by brain damage. This means that you can lose one of these intelligences if you have a brain injury. I have also learned you can be intelligent in one way of a certain category but other ways you may have a “weak intelligence” in the category. This will impact my class room because I will have to create activities that highlight every students’ intelligence as well as challenge their weaker intelligences.As a teacher I must know how each student learns the best. One way this will impact me is using MI will show me how to get to know my students better and try to meet the needs of how they like to learn. Through multiple intelligences I can assess how each student understands information and in what ways they can present the information that they have learned. By knowing if a student is more of a visual learner I can demonstrate a social studies lesson through demonstration or even use pictures in my presentations. Through giving other activities such as a logical problem to a visual student but adding visuals so they can piece together their own information, I will be able to instruct and encourage them to build the strength of their Logic-Mathematical intelligence.
Shane
The main part of this chapter that really resonated with me was about the IQ test. I totally agree that students should not be defined by only knowing one intelligence or being good at only one thing at a time. This side tracked me a little bit because it made me think of when students will be in my classroom that they may feel like failures based on SAT or other types of scores on standardized tests. I like the concept of helping students grow within different areas of other intelligences. There are subcategories and students can always develop and help them work in other ways. Sometimes others believe a person to be intelligent or unintelligent based on certain skills and aspects of life, but if there is anything I have learned from the readings or in life is that this is false. I have met people with special needs that are outstanding musicians, and many other examples. The big point I am trying to drive home is how this will impact me as a teacher in the future. Intelligences are defined by the times. Depending on when a certain intelligence is deemed important or popular that is when some people will thrive more than others. It also will impact me as a future educator because it will be not only my job to help kids showcase their intelligence in a given area to help them excel, but to also help them grow in different areas as a student to help them reach maximum potential in the classroom.Cory
I really enjoyed some of the points that Gardner pointed out in his Multiple Intelligence theory. I couldn’t agree more with his reasoning for proposing this theory; Gardner believes that our natural definition of intelligence is too narrow. Many Americans believe that our intelligence is based almost solely on our IQ score and grades in core level classes, but that isn’t true. There are many dimensions to intelligence that aren’t covered by math or English. I can apply this to my class room by not writing off a student that isn’t too great at history. I think that all teachers have to realize that there is no such thing as truly stupid student; every student excels at something, it just my not be the subject, matter you are currently teaching them. But what I think is the biggest thing to take away from this chapter is Gardner believes that every student can develop each intelligences to an adequate level. This is something I think that every teacher has to believe. If you don’t think you can improve your students’ intelligence in a certain subject, then what is the point in even trying? A teacher without this belief should not be teaching if you ask me, they need to have faith in their students. Some students are written off as unable to learn something, but there is a difference between unable and unwilling. Only the best teachers are able to make all of their willing and want to learn what they have to teach.Laura
I really enjoyed reading about the eight different kinds of “intelligences” because I find them fascinating. While this chapter didn’t directly discuss multiple intelligences in the context of education, it is easy to see how it is so important to bring them into consideration when it comes to teaching. When we took the test in class to determine which intelligences were strongest for us, I scored highest in the interpersonal and naturalist categories and lowest in the musical and logical-mathematical categories. The results of my test make me aware that it might be difficult for me to connect to students who fall into different categories than I do at first, and this chapter makes me aware that I will have to be able to recognize these rather foreign intelligences in my future students, as I am sure that I will have students who are musically and mathematically inclined. I will need to be able to connect with these students just as well as I might connect with students who fall into the same MI categories as I do. Apart from the fact that Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences might pose challenges to me as an educator when it comes to discovering how to best suit intelligences that I do not strongly possess, I think that differing intelligences have much to offer to a classroom’s learning environment as I will be able to learn from my students and they will be able to learn from each other. This is a very valuable thing and I will be sure to make my best effort to get to know which categories my students fall into as individuals and to give them the opportunities to utilize those intelligences.Sarah
In chapter 1 I learned about Gardner’s eight intelligences and how he came to thinking of multiple intelligences. I learned that he questioned the validity of determining intelligence through the practice of taking students out their natural learning environment and asking them to do isolated tasks that they had never done before and would never do again. Gardner believed that intelligence has more to do with an individual’s capacity for solving problems and “fashioning products” in a natural setting. Even though we learned about some of the characteristics of each of the intelligences in class, I felt that the way the book described them helped me learn more about each intelligence. Linguistic has to do with a person’s ability to use words effectively in writing or verbally. People with linguistic intelligence tend to have the ability to manipulate the structure of language, the sounds of languages, the meanings of language, and the practical uses of language. In a math classroom, I could give word problems or give students the option to explain what they did to solve a problem to their classmates. Word problems that require explanation in the answer would satisfy the students that can use words effectively in writing. Explaining the method that was used to solve a problem would satisfy a student who can effectively use words verbally. I also learned that everyone has all eight intelligences and have the possibility for all eight to be adequately developed. By implementing ways to satisfy all the eight intelligences in my classroom, some students would be further developing their intelligences.